SPECULATIONS ON N.KOREA'S COVID-19 SITUATION

[Anchor Lead]

The South Korean government plans to send North Korea a notice proposing working-level contact to discuss ways to help Pyongyang fight the COVID-19 pandemic. But North Korea is not showing any response. Medical experts believe that the situation in the North is far worse than previously known.

[Pkg]

There are three key points in the notice the government plans to send to North Korea. While expressing willingness to provide medical supplies and vaccines and share know-how's and technology acquired from our own anti-pandemic quarantine experiences, Seoul proposed working-level contact to discuss these issues. On Monday, Seoul was going to send the notice signed by Unification Minister Kwon Young-se twice to his North Korean counterpart Kim Yong-chol. However, the North didn't show intentions in receiving the notice. Minister Kwon urged Pyongyang to give positive responses to Seoul’s proposal.

[Soundbite] Kwon Young-se(Minister of Unification (Inauguration Speech on May 16)) : "We plan to pursue unconditional inter-Korean cooperation without any political consideration attached. I am asking N. Korea to give active response and work together with us to prevent greater sufferings of its people."

The Unification Ministry made such quick moves on the day the new minister took office, based on the assessment that the current situation in the North is far worse than announced. Medical experts raised the possibility that North Korea might have lowered the reported number of patients and deaths, due to the lack of testing capabilities to confirm COVID-19 infections. By estimating the pandemic-related death toll in North Korea using Hong Kong’s fatality rate among unvaccinated people, some analysts even believe that tens of thousands of North Korean people will die from the virus.

[Soundbite] Prof. Oh Myeong-don(Seoul Nat’l Univ.) : "Based on this data, we estimate that the number of Omicron-related deaths in N. Korea reaches 34,540."

Regarding the provision of medical supplies to North Korea, the government said a review would be necessary to send COVID-19 treatment medicines to the North, since they must be reserved for domestic preferential use. But it added South Korea possesses an extra amount of anti-viral vaccines and can provide them to the North if Pyongyang agrees to it.